Page 44 of The Heart Breaker

I take another sip of my drink, swallowing it down as I remember the feel of that hair in my fist, my fingers digging into the same hips that dress is currently clinging to. The way she tasted. How she sounded.

She must feel me looking, because her eyes flick over and land on mine. They’re still that same sharp blue, taking me in with that bored expression she wears like armor, before she rips her gaze away.

I tip back my cup, swallow down another sip, and head toward the group.

“Holy shit,” Austin says when I reach the group, his arm slung around Maisie’s shoulders, the two of them dressed as Flynn Rider and Rapunzel. “Ellis actually dressed up.”

I don’t answer. I just take another drink, my eyes sliding to Aurora, who’s doing a pretty convincing job of acting like I’m not standing five feet away.

Ryan—looking like an idiot dressed like Mario—looks me over, taking in the hoodie, the jeans, the skull paint smeared across my face, and lets out a laugh as he shakes his head. “This is the least effort I’ve ever seen anyone put into Halloween.”

“Wasn’t planning on coming.”

Aurora’s gaze finally lands on me, tilting her head, looking at me like I’m something she scraped off the bottom of her heel. “And yet you did. How tragic.”

My jaw ticks, irritation coiling hot in my chest every time she opens her mouth.

“Careful, Viper,” I murmur. “Your fangs are showing again.”

Her eyes narrow, and I catch the flush that creeps up her throat, but she doesn’t bite back at me the way I expect. She just turns and pushes through the crowd instead, those black wings shifting on her back as she heads for the back door.

I tip the rest of my drink back, let it burn all the way down, then set the cup on the nearest surface.

I need a smoke.

I shove through a cluster of drunk idiots and push open the back door, the cold air hitting me in the face right away. The music is muffled out here, but the backyard’s still full. A couple of people are off to the side smoking, and a few others are gathered around the fire, roasting marshmallows and talking over each other.

Austin went overboard with the decorations out here too. Fake gravestones are shoved into the grass beside pumpkins, plastic bones are half-buried in the dirt, and those same ugly bats are hanging from the branches with orange string lights thrown up between the trees.

I lean back against a tree and pull out my cigarettes, lighting one up and dragging the first inhale deep into my lungs. My eyes flick to the circle around the fire pit, watching as Aurora hugs one of the girls, chatting with her. But then my attention catches on a group of guys in matching orange jumpsuits beside her, all of them staring at her like they’ve never seen a woman before. Their eyes drag down her legs and linger on her ass. One of them nudges the guy beside him and jerks his chin in her direction.

My jaw tightens as I let the smoke drift out of my mouth.

I hate the way guys look at her. Hate even more that I can’t seem to stop looking either.

One of the guys says something to her I can’t hear. He shoots her a grin but she just shakes her head. He shrugs it off and takes a pull from his beer.

I flick ash into the grass and bring the cigarette back to my mouth.

She gives the girl one last hug, then turns around, and the second she spots me under the tree, she stops. Her eyes flick to the back door, then back to me, like she’s deciding whether I’m worth the effort.

Turn around, Prescott.

Do us both a favor and go back inside.

But of course she doesn’t. She starts walking straight toward me instead, her heels clicking against the patio before the sound disappears into the grass.

She doesn’t say anything at first. She just reaches up, plucks the cigarette straight from my mouth, and brings it to hers. Shetakes a long drag, holds it for a second, then exhales slowly, smoke blowing between us.

Her eyes meet mine through it. “You stalking me now, Reaper?”

I arch a brow and let my gaze move down her body before coming back to her face. “Don’t flatter yourself, Viper. I came out here for a smoke. You just happened to be here.”

I pluck the cigarette back from her lips, my thumb brushing the edge of her mouth before I bring it to mine and take a long pull, feeling the smoke burn all the way down my throat.

I let my gaze move over her dark angel costume before I blow the smoke out between us.

“What the fuck are you wearing?”